Becker's Hospital Review

36 POPULATION HEALTH 36 CEO/STRATEGY Walmart expands health centers to Arkansas By Alia Paavola W almart opened two more standalone health clinics in June, including a site in Arkansas. The health clinics, called Walmart Health, offer primary care, imaging, lab, dental and behavioral health services. The health clinics that opened in June are located in Loganville, Ga., and Springdale, Ark. The Loganville Walmart Health opened June 17. The first Arkansas location opened June 24. The company already has clinics in the Georgia cities of Dallas and Calhoun. Walmart said it believes that expanding the standalone clinics will help bring affordable, quality healthcare to more Americans, be- cause 90 percent of them live within 10 miles of a Walmart store. "Patients have responded favorably to our low, transparent pric- ing for key healthcare services, regardless of insurance status," Walmart's senior vice president of health and wellness, Sean Slov- enski wrote in a blog post. "They're also appreciative of the conve- nience of our facilities that offer primary and urgent care, labs, X-ray and diagnostics, counseling, dental, optical and hearing services, all in one central facility." n Rural Florida hospital CEO: Proximity to Jacksonville meant no federal aid By Morgan Haefner T he CEO of Ed Fraser Memorial Hospital in Macclenny, Fla., said his hospital missed out on federal COVID-19 aid because the larger city of Jacksonville, Fla., is nearby, according to News 4 Jax. Ed Fraser Memorial is about 30 miles from Jacksonville's downtown. Edward Anderson, the hospital's CEO, said while Ed Fraser Memo- rial is a community hospital in a small county, it was denied federal money allocated for rural hospitals. "Apparently we got knocked out because we are just a little bit too close to Jacksonville," Mr. Anderson told the news station. "Every- one I've talked to in Tallahassee [Florida's capital] says we're still classified as rural." HHS distributed $22 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act's provider relief fund to rural hospitals and those that treated large numbers of COVID-19 patients. Rural provider payments in Florida went to 200 providers that received $108.9 million. n Walgreens testing smaller store format: 8 things to know By Alia Paavola W algreens is testing a new type of store that cuts down on square footage and emphasizes the pharmacy. Internally, the pilot project is dubbed "Cooper," according to CNBC. Here are eight things to know: 1. Walgreens has opened more than 30 small-format pharmacies as part of the pilot program. Depending on how they perform, the retail pharmacy chain plans to open more of them across the U.S. 2. e Cooper is a reference to BMW's Mini Cooper. 3. e small stores were inspired in part by Walgreens stores that are near hospitals because they typically cater to patients who are just picking up medications upon discharge. 4. e small stores are in a variety of cities, including Mobile, Ala., Indianapolis, Knoxville Tenn., and Green- ville, S.C. e first stores were opened in early 2019. 5. In the small stores, there are fewer items for sale in the front of the store and fewer over-the-counter medi- cations. ey are about a quarter of the size of a typical Walgreens store, which sits at 13,500 square feet, accord- ing to CNBC. 6. e stores focus on the pharmacist and customer re- lationship. Walgreens sees the smaller stores as a place where customers can have more one-on-one conver- sations with pharmacists, especially customers with chronic conditions, Rina Shah, Walgreens vice president of pharmacy operations, told CNBC. "ese stores are really intended to provide a high-touch experience, and even a convenient experience, to our patients in a different capacity than potentially a very busy 24-hour location where people are coming in and out," Ms. Shah said. "e value of pharmacy is not so much the prescription that you take. It's understanding how to take the medication, what side effects you need to manage, and then ultimately, how do you manage your disease going forward." 7. e pharmacies also offer vaccinations. 8. e small pharmacies are just one of the ways Wal- greens is working to keep up with such competitors as CVS Health, Walmart and Amazon. Walgreens has opened health corners in some of its stores, rents space to diagnostics company LabCorp and offers some pri- mary care through third-party companies. In addi- tion, 230 Walgreens stores have clinics staffed with nurse practitioners. n

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